Jo-Anne Yearwood
Storyteller Jo-Anne Yearwood,
Director of the Children’s Center at UND
Email: joanne.yearwood@email.und.edu
Phone: 701-777-3947
Will Portray Era Bell Thompson,
Editor at Ebony Magazine
All presentations will begin with a biographical sketch about Era Bell that is appropriate for the age group. The Elementary aged student’s presentation will focus on what life was like for a little black nine year old girl in the small town of Driscoll, North Dakota in the early 1900s. They will see photographs of Era Bell in school uniform and sitting with her classmates in the schoolhouse.
They will also be given the opportunity to participate in discussions about the ways in which we are all alike and different, how kindness and friendship influence and affect relationships, and what it must have been like to move to some place new at age nine.
All of the above can be very easily tied into the Social Studies Standards 1, 2, and 6 as children are given the opportunity to construct timelines in the life of this North Dakota historical figure, compare past and present family life, define chronological terms for broad categories of historical time, describe how community life has changed from the past to the present and identify similarities and differences among cultures.
The Middle School student’s presentation will focus on the challenges Era Bell faced as a middle school student, how she handled them using humor and how she used her imagination (pretending she was a cowboy and wrote some of her early poems under an assumed name). Middle School students will also participate in guided discussions about differences and ways in which individuals can and should respond to people who are different than they are, as well as the role that kindness and friendship can play in relationships. These topics can all be easily developed to meet the Social Studies Standards 1, 2, and 6 for this age group.
High School Students will learn about Era Bell’s time at Bismarck high school—her accomplishments in sports and journalism. Further discussions will explore Era Bell’s role models (both black and white) and the influences that they had on encouraging her to pursue college and her dreams as a writer. Once again, these topics can be developed to provide students with the opportunities necessary for them to become proficient in the Social Studies Standards 1, 2, and 6 for this age group.
